Lighthouse acquires the shopping centre Torrecárdenas for €172 million

The South African investment fund, Lighthouse Properties, has closed its first deal in Spain with the Sevillian property developer Bogaris for 172 million euros. The acquisition of the Torrecárdenas shopping centre in Almería indicates signs of recovery in the retail market. 

The deal reached between Lighthouse and Bogaris means the fund will have to pay 78 million euros and will assume a debt of 85 million associated with the asset. Lighthouse expects to obtain a return above 6% annually from the exploitation of the asset.

RPE and Ashurst advised Lighthouse on the deal, while CBRE, Savills Aguirre Newman and Cuatrecasas advised the seller.

The asset comprises more than 60,000 sq m of gross leasable area; 20,000 sq m correspond to the retail park and 40,000 sq m to the shopping centre. It also has a car park with capacity for three thousand spaces.

The shopping centre opened in 2018, now, 3 years after its opening, it has established itself as a reference shopping centre in the region of Almería, south-east of Spain. It receives more than 7 million visitors a year and has a nearly full occupany, at levels above 97%. These include more than 100 tenants with its main occupants being: Mercadona, Leroy Merlin, MediaMarkt, Yelmo Cines, Primark and Zara.

The seller, Bogaris, is a promoter of large commercial, logistics and industrial areas under lease. It distributes its portfolio between Spain and Portugal and has commercial centres and parks as well as logistics platforms which together total more than 700,000 sq m.

This is the first major transaction involving shopping centres since the health crisis began. In general investment in retail was one of the sectors that suffered the most during the 2021 financial year. The commercial sector registered an investment of 1,150 million euros, which represents a decrease of 50% compared to the year 2020, according to the JLL consultant. By 2022, they expect this figure to recover 30%.

The large deal of recent months in shopping centers was corporate, the purchase by Castellana Properties of 21.7% of Lar España (€95 million euro operation). Vukile Property, through its Socimi, acquired its stake in the listed company from Pimco, with a 48% discount on the net value of Lar’s assets.